


three points (where two lines meet)

by PinkCanary



Series: three points (where two lines meet) [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-23
Updated: 2015-05-05
Packaged: 2018-03-25 10:16:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3806689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkCanary/pseuds/PinkCanary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke wears the two names on her skin like a badge of honour.</p><p>Alternatively: how to complicate the soulmates AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from the song Tessellate by Alt-J.

Clarke wears the two names on her skin like a badge of honour.

They are both present when she is born, and her mother often runs her fingers over the two names - one, bold and blocky and all capital letters, the other a hurried messy chicken scratch. Her mother doesn’t know why there are two of them, and from the earliest age that Clarke can sense anxiety, she knows that the names are a source of stress for her mother. Abby prefers everything to be neat and within the lines.

Clarke always hated colouring books.

She finds the names to be a source of comfort; how can she possibly ever be alone, when there are _two_ people out there that are also searching for her? 

She lies in bed and cries and traces the letters that spell RAVEN on the inside of her arm, a few inches above her elbow, on the day that her father dies. As her mother grows more distant by the day, she crosses her arms over her own chest, and her hand rests on Bellamy’s name, scrawled across the side of her ribcage. 

Everything is both easier and harder than she could have ever imagined.

At 18, Clarke moves into her college’s dorms, and she freezes in awe when she sees the name card “Raven Reyes” on the door next to her own. Her suspicions are confirmed when she finally wills herself to push open the door, and comes face to face with a girl who mirrors her own shell-shocked expression. 

(Raven recovers more quickly than Clarke does, and her face immediately slips into a cocky smirk. “I always thought you were a guy, but this is way better.”)

The first time that Clarke removes Raven’s clothes, her breath catches when she sees her own name, in a neat looping cursive, on the inside of Raven’s arm. It brushes against the familiar scrawl on Raven’s ribcage - Bellamy Blake. The two names sit side by side, as Raven lies on her back in her narrow dorm bed.

Raven catches her stare, and her face immediately becomes nervous and not a little defensive. “My mom always said that that name was there when I was born. Your name showed up a few months later.”

Clarke had always believed that just having one of these people in her life would be enough, but each time she sees her name next to the messy handwriting on Raven’s side, it eats at her. She throws her arm over Raven as they sleep, and absently strokes that spot. During sex, her tongue dips down from Raven’s breast, to trace the name. Raven moans as Clarke bites down gently, marking the patch of skin as her own. She becomes obsessed with it. 

They never discuss it, but at some point they both start _looking_. 

At each party and social gathering, they casually start collecting names. They meet Evans and Matthews and Troys and countless other men, but never one Bellamy. 

Raven goes to the gym, and covertly checks arms and chests.

Clarke starts med school; she picks up each chart, and her stomach twists in disappointment.

Raven is enough, and she tells herself that Raven will always be enough, but she can’t help feeling like something is just _missing_. Can’t help feeling like someone must be looking for her. Looking for them. Isolated.

Of course, it happens when she isn’t expecting it.

Clarke is volunteering at the campus blood drive, when she spots the painfully familiar letters “VEN” peeking out from under a rolled-up shirt sleeve. It’s only three letters, but she would know those three letters anywhere - has traced them countless times with her fingers over the 22 years of her life. 

She gasps audibly, and warm brown eyes look up at her in question from the reclined blood donation chair. 

Almost unconsciously, Clarke’s hand moves up to worry the soft skin of her own underarm, just barely visible under her short-sleeved shirt. 

The brown eyes widen.

Clarke opens her mouth several times, silently, before the words finally come tumbling out.

“We’ve been looking for you.”

Bellamy smiles, and the skin around his eyes crinkles, and it feels so familiar that for a moment, Clarke can’t even breathe.

“Thanks for finding me, Clarke.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As time goes by, Bellamy wears Raven as a shield, and hides and protects Clarke against his ribcage, just below his heart. He crosses his arms over his chest defensively, and his hand rests on Clarke’s name.
> 
> Of course, it is only fitting that Clarke is the one to find him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Bellamy POV continuation of the Bravenlarke soulmates AU.

Bellamy’s skin is unmarked at birth, and it stays that way for almost five years.

At four years old, he’s old enough to know of the tattoos, but not old enough to understand the implications. He is old enough to know that he desperately wants one of his own - wants to see the contrast of black ink against his tan skin. 

His mother is the first to notice. He is eating breakfast one summer morning, a day that promises to be hazy and blisteringly hot, when her eyes narrow and her breath catches. Bellamy follows her eyes down to where the name RAVEN - all in capital letters - has appeared on the delicate skin a few inches above his elbow. His mother stares at the spot for a minute, her face set in a deep frown, before finally sighing and looking away. When he asks what the letters spell, she only tells him that a raven is a black bird, bold and smart, and Bellamy laughs in delight.

For the rest of the summer, he shows off the name to anyone who will look. He talks endlessly of birds and planes and rocket ships and other things that fly.

The summer has given way to autumn and winter, when Bellamy dreams of the ocean. The waves are a clear deep blue, and they pull at him, dragging him into the depths. He sinks beneath the surf. 

When he shows his mother the looping cursive Clarke Griffin that has appeared on his ribcage overnight, her face is unreadable. 

Bellamy doesn’t bother asking what a “Clarke” is.

He grows up. In the beginning, he shows off Clarke’s name with the same enthusiasm that he displays Raven’s. It never goes how he expected; people look at him warily and the subject is quickly changed. Raven is effortless - bold and obvious and uncomplicated - and as time goes by, Bellamy wears her as a shield, and hides and protects Clarke against his ribcage, just below his heart. He crosses his arms over his chest defensively, and his hand rests on Clarke’s name.

Of course, it is only fitting that Clarke is the one to find him.

She leads him by the arm over to the blood drive recovery area, presses a cookie into his hand, and tells him to stay. _Well, obviously,_ Bellamy thinks with a wry grin. 

Bellamy is not going anywhere.

Hours later, he finds himself sitting at a battered kitchen table, across from the girl with the blonde hair and the deep sea blue eyes and the name on her arm that matches the one that has captivated him for 23 years. There is a cup of coffee in his hand and a thousand questions on the tip of his tongue.

He starts off with the most obvious.

“You have two names, right? And Raven?”

Clarke nods. “I’ve always had both you and Raven. Right here,” she gestures to the inside of her arm, where he can clearly see Raven’s name, “and here.” Her hand rests on her ribcage lightly, her fingers absently stroking through her shirt. 

Bellamy gulps. _Focus._

“It’s a total mindfuck, right? Knowing that there are two?” Clarke’s face shutters, her confusion evident. He tries again. “People always looked at me like I’m some kind of science project, or like I’m doing something _wrong_ , when I told them that I had two names….. so I just stopped telling them.”

Clarke’s face is grim but understanding. “My mom has always been pretty freaked out by it. I think she hoped that once I found Raven, that I would stop looking for you.”

“Did you?”

Clarke looks at him so intensely at that moment, and Bellamy can’t help but wonder why he ever thought that he needed to protect Clarke in the first place. “It only got worse once Raven and I found each other. I just… couldn’t let it go.” He feels what she doesn’t say. _Couldn’t let you go._

“How long have you and Raven…” He trails off, not knowing what assumptions to make about their relationship. He isn’t sure what he is even hoping for. 

“Almost five years. We were assigned as roommates in our first year of college and we started off as friends…. for a few weeks, at least.” A soft smile transforms Clarke’s face as she stares down into her coffee. “But I just fell in love with her. She’s really easy to fall in love with.” At this, Clarke looks up at Bellamy, and he doesn’t know how to read her expression at all.

Bellamy’s chest suddenly feels too tight, and he clutches his coffee cup. The words are out of his mouth before he can second guess them.

“Do you want me to fall in love with her?”

Clarke doesn’t seem surprised by the question, or even particularly bothered. “I’ve thought about that a lot over the past few years,” she admits quietly. “I mean, we wanted to find you. We’ve been trying to find you. And I have no idea how this is all going to work… but I want you to have the chance to fall in love with her, like I did.” She flushes, then. “Like she fell in love with me.”

Her ocean blue eyes are piercing and Bellamy can’t look away. He feels himself being pulled in by the surf and he imagines that Clarke Griffin is not so difficult to fall in love with, herself.

Bellamy can feel the awkward laugh beginning to bubble up, when he suddenly hears the jingle of keys in a lock. Clarke is the first to break their gaze, her eyes falling back to her coffee, even as his fix on to the still-closed door. 

Clarke found him, but he has been wearing Raven on his sleeve for so long and the tension is almost unbearable. 

Finally - _finally_ \- the door opens, and the tall dark-haired girl slips into the apartment. She doesn’t notice the thick silence blanketing the kitchen, and she tosses her bag near the door and toes off her shoes, before starting to call for Clarke. She stops abruptly as she sees the two of them sitting at the kitchen table.

Raven’s eyes connect with Clarke’s and a kind of wordless conversation transpires between the two. Bellamy’s stomach clenches as he watches them; so much time wasted.

He has every intention of making up for that lost time, if they will let him. 

At first glance, Raven is the perfect opposite of Clarke. Her tanned skin and dark hair contrast against Clarke’s pale complexion. Her body is slim, where Clarke is curvy. Raven is all nervous energy, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, as Clarke sits perfectly still. Bellamy considers himself to be a pretty typical heterosexual guy and he can definitely appreciate a beautiful woman…. but there is something about seeing the two of them together that just captivates him. 

They’re perfect.

He isn’t sure how long they all stare at each other, but his thoughts are finally interrupted when Raven sinks bonelessly into the free kitchen chair between him and Clarke.

Her eyes focus on him and there is a nervous tremor to her voice that she can’t quite cover over with smooth indifference. “So, considering that Clarke doesn’t make a habit of super-awkward coffee dates with strange men, I’m going to assume that you’re Bellamy Blake?”

Bellamy grins at her, trying to mirror her _no big deal_ expression. “Guilty.”

Raven’s eyes sweep over Bellamy and he gets the distinct impression that he is being judged. He becomes aware that his foot is jigging nervously under the table, and he grasps his now-cold coffee mug, just for something to do with his hands. Whatever this test is, he must pass, because suddenly a wide smile splits Raven’s face and _oh god, he is in trouble_.

She speaks fast, all enthusiasm and dry wit. “Seriously, how is it possible for all three of us to be _this_ attractive? Look at you two! You’re practically a high-end hair product commercial.” Raven’s smile is still on her face, but it suddenly becomes something a little darker, with just a bit of an evil glint. She looks sideways at Clarke, all devious and teasing, before she speaks again and her voice is low and suggestive. “I can’t wait to watch you ride him, Clarke.”

Bellamy chokes and when he finally manages to stop coughing enough to glance over at Clarke, she has turned so red that she’s practically purple. 

“I think you’re getting a bit ahead of yourself, Raven.” Clarke finally says. She is pointedly not looking up from the table.

Raven chuckles. “I really don’t think I am. But we’ll see.” She turns her attention to Bellamy again. “How about we start with dinner?”

He knows that his smile at this moment must be comically large, but he can’t even bring himself to care. 

“That sounds perfect.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the years pass, Raven forces the names out of her mind. Her mother starts drinking more and coming home less, and the names don’t mean anything. Raven starts sneaking in through Finn’s window at night, lured by the promise of a warm body to snuggle in to and possibly a warm breakfast in the morning, and the names don’t mean anything. At fifteen, she kisses Finn for the first time and it feels different and familiar and so much like home, and the names still don’t mean anything.
> 
>  
> 
> Raven POV, and a kind of epilogue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I said I wasn't going to write Raven's POV, but then I started headcannoning, and then I wrote it. ;)

Raven’s mother had the name of a man that she had never met on the inside of her wrist.

Raven asked about this name before she ever thought to ask about her own. Her mother had just scowled, her eyes narrowing. “It doesn’t mean anything. Just another asshole in a planet full of assholes.”

Raven’s face must reflect her disappointment, because her mother’s eyes soften a bit. Her mother is silent for a long moment; her fingers pick at the hole in the knee of her jeans, the threads coming unravelled under her nails. “The idea that there is one guy - or even two guys, “ she looks pointedly at Raven, “that will complete us is just bullshit. This name,” she gestures to her wrist, “has never done anything for me.” 

Her eyes harden, and Raven knows that the conversation is over.

As Raven grows up, conversations about the tattoos begin to consume the school yards; everywhere, there are other children talking about them, showing them off. One day, she hides under the playground and carefully lifts her shirt, revealing Bellamy’s name to the little boy who lives next door. Finn just grins his infectious smile at her. “You have two of them? That’s so cool!”

Raven smiled back at him, relieved. Finn was the first person that she had ever showed her tattoos to, the first person that she had ever _wanted_ to know about this part of her, and she delights at the contact. It feels significant. It feels _real_.

More years pass, and Raven forces the names out of her mind. Her mother starts drinking more and coming home less, and the names don’t mean anything. Raven starts sneaking in through Finn’s window at night, lured by the promise of a warm body to snuggle in to and possibly a warm breakfast in the morning, and the names don’t mean anything. At fifteen, she kisses Finn for the first time and it feels different and familiar and so much like home, and the names still don’t mean anything.

For two years, Raven revels in her _defiance_ against those marks on her skin. How can they mean anything at all? Finn whispers her name reverently as she wraps her lips around his cock, and he tells her that he loves her as they spend all night sitting on the roof of the playground that they played on as kids. The names mean nothing to Raven at all, and she feels a sense of pride, even as she ignores the name that is not hers on Finn’s thigh.

In her senior year of high school, Raven finds herself suddenly completely alone, and she starts to wonder if the names still mean nothing.

Raven moves herself into her dorm room; just a duffle bag full of clothes, a few books, a small box of scavenged electronics parts. She approached her assigned room number, and her heart races as she sees the name that she had been trying to ignore for her entire life - Clarke Griffin. Without her permission, her fingers reached out to trace the spot on her arm. 

Raven spends the next few hours arranging and rearranging her meagre collection of belongings, and muttering under her breath. _It doesn’t mean anything_. Until suddenly the cracked door is pushed open and there in the doorway is a blonde girl, looking terrified and just so _earnest_ and Raven feels her heart stop for the second time that day.

She and Clarke fall into an easy routine as roommates, and Raven’s inner mantra of _it doesn’t mean anything_ becomes less frequent as the weeks go on. She certainly isn’t thinking it on the day when Raven suddenly finds herself on her back, the laptop still playing the movie that they had been watching pushed to the side, with Clarke’s hands in her hair and Clarke’s lips on her mouth. 

(It’s a few days later when Clarke finds Bellamy’s name on Raven’s ribcage, reveals Bellamy’s name on her own ribcage, and Raven suddenly realizes that the names mean _everything_.)

For awhile, Raven cannot imagine that anything in life could possibly be better than this. Clarke and Raven transition seamlessly into _Clarke and Raven_ ; they follow each other around all day, bantering good-naturedly between classes, holding hands under the table at meals in the dining hall. At night, they spread out on one of their narrow dorm beds, hands roaming, mouths searching, finally falling asleep curled around each other. 

(One night, Raven feels Clarke’s teeth, sharp and sudden, biting at the side of her ribcage. She moans at the sensation, as Clarke’s tongue soothes her bruised skin, but the damage is already done. When Raven looks in the mirror the next morning, Bellamy’s name is mottled purple, and Raven suddenly understands.)

They start looking. 

Raven can feel herself driven by the desperation within Clarke, which only grows as the months and years pass. She knows that Clarke loves her, can feel it with every touch and every look, but she can also feel Clarke’s _incompleteness_ , can feel the way that it motivates her every motion.

She knows that it should hurt, should make her feel inadequate and small, but it doesn’t, and she wonders if Clarke sees the same incompleteness when she looks at her. 

The names mean _everything_ and Raven can’t believe that she thought otherwise for so long.

One day, Raven comes home from class and finds Bellamy sitting at her kitchen table. The apartment is so quiet and awkward, but Raven looks at Clarke and for the first time ever, Clarke looks _complete_ , like a jigsaw puzzle that finally has all of its pieces.

For so long, it’s just been Clarke and Raven, so it feels like it should be more complicated, but Bellamy just _fits_. Almost effortlessly, they become _Clarke and Raven and Bellamy_ , like he has just always been there. _He always has been,_ Raven realizes.

And so, when Raven finds herself startling awake one morning and not knowing why, she just burrows closer into Bellamy’s warmth, before lifting her head sleepily to check the alarm clock on Clarke’s side of the bed. It’s just after 7:30, which means that Clarke must just be getting home from her shift at the hospital. As if on cue, Raven hears the shower start up.

Bellamy stirs a little next to her, and she can feel him murmuring into her neck. “Clarke home?”

“Mmmhmm.” Raven answers him sleepily, before turning in his arms to face him, so that she can snuggle into his chest. His body feels warm and solid, and it grounds her in a way that she didn’t even know was missing. 

Raven is just drifting back to sleep, when she feels the mattress dip, and suddenly Clarke’s body is curling around her back. Her hair is wet from her shower, the damp strands tickling the back of Raven’s neck, and Raven can feel Clarke’s bare breasts pressing against her. 

Bellamy’s arm stretches out to enfold Clarke into their embrace and Raven sighs happily into his collarbone. When he speaks, his breath lightly stirs the hair at Raven’s temple. “We missed you.”

Clarke chuckles, her voice low and throaty. “Night shifts are torture now that I’m missing out on being here in bed with both of you.” She rubs her lips against the nape of Raven’s neck to illustrate her point, and Raven groans softly in response.

“Well, we don’t have class today, so we can spend all day in bed _catching up_ ,” Bellamy says, and Raven can practically see the smile on his face, even with her eyes closed and her face still plastered against his chest. 

Clarke is yawning, though, and Raven turns again in Bellamy’s arms, to wrap herself around the blonde’s torso. “Sleep, for now. It’s still early and we have all day.”

Raven can feel Clarke pressing a gentle kiss against her forehead, and Bellamy tightens his arms around both of them. And as her breathing evens out once again as she falls back asleep, the last thought that Raven has is that this must be how _everything_ feels.


End file.
